Evidence suggests that vitamin C can help prevent gout
Posted on 20 March 2009
Gout is a condition caused by elevated levels of uric acid in the body. If levels are high enough, uric acid can end up crystallising in one or more joint, which typically causes intense pain and inflammation. Gout quite often affects the ball of the foot (the major joint of the big toe), but the condition can affect any joint. Conventional medical treatment is centred on painkillers for attacks of gout, as well as drugs (e.g. allopurinol) that can lower uric acid levels by speeding its elimination from the body through the kidneys (known as having a
Published March 20, 2009 . Filed under: Nutrients and Supplements
Two friends of mine in USA with gout started taking cherry juice – cherries out of season – and have found that their gout has definitely reduced. They said that gout was a form of arthritis? The cherry farmers in USA have been banned from saying that cherries are a known way to ease gout. The drugs companies have got their claim banned, even tho its known that cherries have something that eases gout. Wonder if its the Vit C that does this?
March 20, 2009 @ 11:42 pm
I’d also heard that specific claim for cherries. Couldn’t test that or the vitamin C theory though as mother hasn’t had an attack since her felodipine was stopped and her furosemide changed to bumetanide, something about that combination seemed to be the triggering factor.
March 22, 2009 @ 8:17 am
[...] Evidence suggests that vitamin C can help prevent gout | Dr … [...]
March 22, 2009 @ 10:24 am
Could you please explain how many men in one hundred would have had an epsiode of gout in each of the following groups of the Choi et al study?
< 250 mg/d
500 to 999 mg/d,
1000 to 1499 mg/d
1500 mg/d or greater
It might help your readers to better understand the overall and relative levels of risk.
March 24, 2009 @ 7:08 pm
[...] the rest here:
April 27, 2009 @ 11:06 am
If the uric acid level increases and would result to gout, then is it possible that you have to drink a lot of water t avoid these kind of a disease before it will takes places?
I think that will be better for those who wanted to avoid the risk of having this kind of a disease. But for those who suffer from it, well, your post which concerns with healing gout and other precautionary measures will do.
October 5, 2009 @ 6:57 am
I’ve read some articles related to this study. Is it correct to say that the study is rather inconclusive? Initially, I read that Vitamin C inhibits the production of uric acid and therefore helps gout in that manner.
However, recently I’m also seeing that Vitamin C supposedly helps the kidneys reabsorb uric acid from the blood, thereby allowing greater excretion of uric acid through the urine.
I also read a post that states that vitamin c inhibits the liver from producing uric acid due to fructose (I didn’t know fructose triggered the production. I thought it was just purines.)
That means there are three different ways vitamin C helps with gout. Is my understanding about right?
In any case, I’ve started taking up to 2000 MG of Vitamin C per day. Who knows? Maybe it’ll lower my uric acid level.
December 18, 2009 @ 6:01 pm
This is good to know about Vit. C. I hadn’t seen it mentioned much in my research on gout. To comment on the message above as to what cherries do, they are rich in compounds that prevent the destruction of collagen, which the body uses to form connective tissue. The connective tissue is damaged by gout. Cherries also have an enzyme that neutralizes uric acid and cherries are high in anthocyanins which have high antioxidant properties as well as anti-inflammatory action. There are many natural substances that can help sufferers of gout. I like Burdock Root, for instances, and many people have said it helps them.
January 30, 2010 @ 8:48 pm
[...] Evidence suggests that vitamin C can help prevent gout | Dr Briffa's Blog [...]
January 31, 2010 @ 8:51 pm